By Alan Cohen
More Bang for
Fewer Bucks
Even as the recession levels off,
law librarians challenge
vendors’ pricing models.
LAW LIBRARIAN SURVEY
Each week at a large East Coast law firm, LexisNexis and Westlaw representatives come
in for 90 minutes or so to answer questions and let the lawyers and staffers use their research sites for free. “Everyone comes down, bringing all the research work they know
ANDREW BANNECKER
their clients won’t pay for,” says the firm’s library
director, who asked not to be identified. To her,
it’s a simple way to mitigate—but not solve—a
thorny problem: Research costs are high, and
neither the firm nor many of its clients want to
foot the bill. The little work-around isn’t exactly a
trade secret. Says the library manager at another
firm: “We teach [lawyers] that if it’s nonbillable,
and you don’t think you can do it any other way,
wait for training.”
Welcome to Recession 2.0. While our ninth
annual survey of Am Law 200 librarians is a tale
with all the usual recession elements—layoffs and
cost-cutting, to name the big two—it’s also about
resiliency. Faced with major challenges, includ-
ing less staff, tighter budgets, and price-increase-
happy publishers who, as one library chief puts
it, “must live on another planet,” law firm librar-
ians have developed new strategies to cope. The
80 librarians who participated in our survey are
also saying no to an increasing number of pub-
lishers—particularly when it comes to print. And
they’re coming up with new ways—like making
the most of those free training sessions—to get
more bang for fewer bucks.
MORE ONLINE
FOR THE COMPLETE
findings from the
2010 Law Librarian
survey, go to
americanlawyer.com.
